Saving Grace
by LuciShahar
Summary: The story of Castiel's mission to raise Dean from perdition (with help along the way.)
1. Chapter 1- The Summons

Heaven was not as nice a place as humans seem to believe. Admittedly, humans saw very little of heaven when they died. They were confined to their gardens and varying paradises, each crafted especially for them, and I'm sure it pleased them well enough. But only angels knew the real heaven.

Heaven was a cold, lonely place. Full of long hallways and too-bright lights. And big, too. On your rounds, you could go for hours taking data without seeing a single soul.

Well, you would see souls, just not... you get the point.

I far preferred earth to heaven, generally. Earth was warm and full of life, and altogether unlike heaven. It hadn't always been like that. Before humanity, when I was a fledgling and earth was little more than a lump of molten rock, my favorite brothers and I filled heaven with color and laughter. But they were gone now.

With nothing but quiet halls and locked doors to occupy my mind, I could only consider the matter at hand.

This summons was strange. It wasn't often that I, or any angel, was called away from a post. I was certain I hadn't done anything wrong recently. Almost certain. My siblings did seem to enjoy finding fault with my actions, so I could never be quite sure.

In any case, I would know soon enough.

As I arrived, I found myself in a room that was at once familiar and oddly foreign. It was familiar, of course, because every office and boardroom in heaven was virtually identical. If it weren't for angelic intuition, one could probably lose themselves completely in the sheer uniformity of the place.

But this office was just slightly different. Maybe it was a bit bigger or a bit brighter than the rest. It wasn't much, but it was enough to nag uncomfortably at the corner of my mind.

Perhaps it was the angel who sat at the desk in the center of the office. I had never seen her before. It was rare that I encountered an angel I didn't recognize, especially on a routine summons. Or rather, on what I had hoped to be a routine summons, but which was becoming less and less of one with each passing moment.

Before I could worry myself with that thought I pulled myself all the way into the room, making sure the woman was aware of my presence. Better to get this over with, I suppose.

"Castiel," she said calmly. "Sit."

She gestured to one of the clean white chairs placed in front of the desk. I narrowed my eyes, but complied.

"I am Naomi," she finished.

For several seconds we sat in silence as she seemed to study me carefully. I could feel her grace probing my mind, pushing roughly through my thoughts and memories.

"I suppose I can see what he saw in you," Naomi said finally. "You are a good soldier. You've fought well in the name of heaven." Under her austere angelic mask, I almost saw a smirk. "Of course, I see other parts of you as well. The parts that dream of rebellion, that hunger for chaos." She shot me a prolonged stare, shaking her head thoughtfully, and I shrank away from her gaze.

"But he is wise, and he chose you. Who am I to question his judgement?"

"Whose judgement?" I said before Naomi could resume her prying into my soul.

The other angel looked at me, her face sobering. "Castiel," she said. "You were chosen by God."


	2. Chapter 2- The Mission

"Wh- what?"

"God, Castiel," the other angel continued calmly.

I stammered. "Yes, I- I don't- what?"

Naomi shot me an exasperated look containing more emotion than I had seen all week.

"You, Castiel, have been chosen by God for a mission of utmost importance."

I opened my mouth, but Naomi stopped me.

"If you say 'what' again I'll appeal the decision on the grounds that you're an idiot."

"...okay," I answered hesitantly. "What is the mission?"

Naomi almost smirked. She leaned down, opened a drawer, and slid a manila folder onto the desk. She looked to me expectantly.

As I opened the file, I found myself staring down at an image centered by two emerald green eyes. Below the image was a name.

"Dean Winchester," Naomi said aloud as I read it to myself. "He is your mission, Castiel."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He died yesterday," she said. "You need to recover his soul."

Strange, I thought to myself. Returning a soul to Earth was simple and almost routine. Any Third-Class Cherub could do it.

"Okay," I answered. "What room is he in."

"He's not. He's in Hell."

I blanched. "You want me to break into Hell?"

"Well, not exactly," the angel replied. "The demons have increased security. It's unlikely a Seraph could make it through, and we can't risk an Archangel."

I nodded. It made sense. Since my brothers left, we were a bit short on archangels. "I see," I said. "Then what exactly am I doing?"

"You," Naomi replied. "Are going to sneak into Hell."

Oh, sneak into Hell? Was that it? Yes, that sounded incredibly easy. It's not as if I was essentially a glowing beacon to demons or anything like that.

I chose my words more carefully than I did my thoughts, though Naomi probably heard both. "Do you think that's wise?"

"Are you suggesting that God's plan is reckless, Castiel?" she retaliated.

"The plan is for me, an angel, to sneak into Hell and break out a human soul, correct?"

"Yes."

I muttered under my breath. "If you don't like reckless I could use insouciant, maybe."

"What?" She said with more than a hint of annoyance in her voice. She sighed. "Do not blaspheme, Castiel."

Naomi was right. My father was wise: all-knowing, in fact. If that was His plan, it seemed I would follow it with no choice in the matter.

"What about my garrison?" I asked.

Naomi smiled at seeing my cooperation. "Uriel will take over," she said.

Again I reminded myself that I had no other option but obey. Besides, Uriel was a good soldier, and I had been on this surveillance assignment far too long. Not that a visit to Hell was the most desirable change of pace. Did I truly have no way out of this?

"So you'll do it without any trouble? Excellent," Naomi said, reading my mind and ignoring what she found. "All the information you will need can be found in this file. You should leave at your earliest convenience."

After a moment she added, "That will be all."

"Right," I blurted. I turned to leave, before turning back to grab the file and exiting the office.

Walking back through the maze of grey corridors, I opened the folder in my hands.

 _Dean Winchester,_ I read to myself. _Son of John and Mary, brother of Samuel. Born January 24, 1979. Twenty eight years old. Status: DECEASED. Cause of Death: HELLHOUNDS. Location: HELL._

Hellhounds. So he had made a demon deal?

I found my focus drawn back to the picture on the page. Why was Heaven bringing back someone who made deals with demons?

As I looked down at the image, I turned a corner and collided with another form.

"Castiel. You might be more careful if you were paying attention."

"Uriel," I said, righting myself and shooting him an unspoken apology. "Perfect. I need to talk to you."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

"Actually, I need to talk to everyone. It's important. Can you assemble the rest of the garrison and meet me in the conference room?"

"Of course," he replied before flitting away.

When I arrived at the Conference room the other angels were already there, seated around a long, white table. They looked up at me expectantly as I entered the room.

"I have a mission," I said, sitting down at the head of the table.

From the next chair over, Uriel turned to me. "We do?"

"I do," I clarified. "You are to remain on this surveillance assignment." I turned to the garrison. "Obviously, Uriel will be in charge until I return."

Suddenly Balthazar, who had appeared up to now to be distracted by something on the ceiling, snapped to attention. "Wait, you're leaving? Like, downstairs?"

"Yes," I said, choosing not to mention exactly which 'downstairs' I was going to. Naomi never said the mission was classified, but something told me it wasn't exactly a standard milk run, either.

Another angel, Hannah, raised her hand. "How long will you be gone?" She asked.

"It won't be very long," I said, hoping I was right. "In the meantime, as I said, you will report to Uriel." After a moment I added, "And Balthazar." Immature as he could sometimes be, I could trust Balthazar with my life. He'd be useful to have keeping an eye on the garrison along with Uriel.

Without another word, I stood. The angels nodded a silent farewell as I left the room. As I exited the chamber I heard movement within, and soon Balthazar and Uriel joined me in the hall.

"Wait, Castiel-"

I spun around to face them. "I trust that while I'm gone you two will keep the garrison functioning?"

"Of course."

"I always have, Cassie."

I flinched slightly at the familiar nickname. It pushed a different angel into my mind, one whom I hadn't seen for millennia. One whom I wouldn't see again. Was I really still dwelling on that? I quickly put it out of my head.

With some concentration I could beam down to Earth alone, but I would have to take a vessel eventually. Appearing non-corporeally was possible, but draining. And besides, I would need a vessel to interact with humans, and I would need to do that when I found Dean. In any case, I was as ready as I could be.

With an awkward goodbye and a flash of blinding light, I left heaven and started on my task of saving Dean Winchester.

* * *

A/N: This story might not fit the actual canon of the show. Please leave a review if you like it so far and I'll definitely continue. Also, I don't own Supernatural.


	3. Chapter 3- The Archangel

I found myself standing in the middle of a roaring interstate.

As cars and trucks rumbled past, they did not acknowledge my presence. They sped by, narrowly missing the spot where I stood. I quickly made my way to the through the traffic to the sidewalk.

I could have been anywhere on Earth, since I hadn't exactly aimed anywhere in particular.  
I walked along the side of the highway for quite some time, until I eventually reached what appeared to be a city. The sidewalks were dense with people now, so I turned into a wide grassy area and stopped.

I should call Heaven, and ask the angel who sent me what I was mean to do. Surely she would know. She wouldn't have just sent me down blind, right?

 _Naomi._

I waited for a response.

Silence.

 _Naomi, please. I need you to tell me what to do._

Nothing. I tried again.

 _Uriel. Respond._

He didn't answer.

 _Uriel? Balthazar?_

 _Brothers, please._

 _Can no one hear me?_

I was answered only by silence. Either my brothers were ignoring me on purpose, or Heaven couldn't hear my cries for help. In effect, I was stranded. I sat down on a bench at the side of the walkway.

I was completely lost. And there would be no help from my brothers. For all I know, they sent me here only to be rid of me.

I must have sat on that park bench for hours, listening to the futile turning of the gears in my mind. Then again, Earth time passed so painfully slowly, it had probably been minutes. In any case, it was pointless. I still had no idea how I was going to sneak into Hell.

As my last drops of patience ran out, I turned my attention away from the problem at hand. I was getting a headache, which shouldn't have been possible considering my lack of a physical head.

My eyes landed on a man across the grassy yard. I didn't recognize the man's form, but there was something incredibly familiar about him. The glint I saw in his mischievous golden-brown eyes. His soul.

He sauntered casually up to a food cart parked on the street. The vendor did not acknowledge him. Strange behavior, for a human. I watched as the man reached across the small cart and fished through a bowl of brightly colored candies.

If the vendor could see him, she would have stopped him, right?

I suddenly noticed that what I was seeing was not his true soul. It seemed human upon first glance, but as I watched I could tell that it was something else. It was muted, carefully concealed from outside observers.

Softly, I probed at the mysterious person. My grace pushed at the shroud covering his true form. Hopefully, he didn't notice.

After a bit of effort, I could see through the disguise. A shadowy, glowing form materialized behind the man. Three pairs of golden wings.

In less than a second I was standing in front of my brother.

"Cassie?" he said. He was interrupted as my fist collided with his jaw.

I didn't have time to remind myself that punching an archangel was an idiotic idea.

"Dammit," I muttered, shaking the pain out of my hand.

Gabriel stood unaffected, his eyes shining with disbelief. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What am _I_ doing here?" I repeated incredulously. He gently pushed me out of reach as I swung at him uselessly. "I thought you were dead, you son of a bitch!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" my older brother almost laughed. He had the nerve to be laughing right now. After all this time, Gabriel was still a dick.

"Cassie, calm down," the dick continued. "We need to talk. About a lot. This isn't the best place, though."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly the world was spinning. If it was possible for an angel to feel dizzy and nauseous, that is how I felt. Which it wasn't, generally.

Being flown by another angel's grace was by no means a fun sensation. It hadn't happened since I was a fledgling and had learned to fly on my own. In fact, it had probably been Gabriel then, too. We now stood in a small, dim motel room.

I stared at him, eyes wide.

"Are you done attacking me now?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't at the moment. I only stared at him.

Finally I said, "You're not dead?"

"I'm not."

Alive. Gabriel was alive. Gabriel was alive for the past how many millenia? And Heaven hadn't heard from him once. I hadn't heard from my brother once, and here he was.

"Now, if you're not gonna punch me again, it's good to see you, little bro." Gabriel stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. I didn't reciprocate the gesture.

"Your form has changed," I said. "And you're concealing your grace. I could barely see your wings."

"Yeah, well. Witness protection."

"From whom? Who's after you who won't see through that? I did."

"It's not my only form of protection," he replied. "Speaking of which, if we see any pagan gods, my name's Loki and I don't know you."

"You're ridiculous."

"Of course, I'm the trickster. I'm nothing if not ridiculous."

As I contemplated punching him again, he said "So, you never answered my question, little bro. Why are you on Earth? You're on surveillance, aren't you? Shouldn't you be up in Heaven? You know, surveilling?"

I sighed. "I have a mission."

"Man," he said disappointedly. "I was hoping you had finally gotten the sense to leave that place."

"I will never leave our family, Gabriel. Unlike you, I am loyal to Heaven."

"Yeah, I know, I know. So, what's the mission, then?"

I hesitated.

"What, is it a secret?" Gabriel asked with heightened intrigue. "Come on, I'm your big brother! You can tell me!"

Naomi hadn't said it was a secret, technically. And, seeing as how I was utterly lost, telling Gabriel couldn't do much harm, could it?

I sighed. "I'm going to Hell." I said simply.

"Jeez. What did you do this time?"

"For the mission. I have to rescue a damned soul."

The archangel scoffed. "That's crazy! If you think I'm coming with you on this suicide run-"

"I don't," I cut him off. "This is my responsibility, not yours. I'm going alone."

"Screw you. I'm coming."

After millennia, he was still the same.

"But I don't even know what I'm doing," I protested.

"Let me see." Before I could answer he snatched the file from my hand.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Dean Winchester?" he asked, and I could have sworn I heard a note of recognition in his voice.

"Yes. You know him?"

"No, no," Gabriel said unconvincingly. "Just sounds familiar, is all."

How important was this human his name was known by an archangel? And a reclusive one at that.

"So, this is the mission," he said flipping through the pages of the file. He scrutinized it closely, that annoying half-smile never leaving his lips. "Hm, I see," he murmured to himself. Finally, he looked up at me. "I can figure it out."

"You can?"

"Eh," he hummed uncertainly. "I think so. Like, seventy percent sure. I at least know where to start."

Well, that was further than I had gotten. Hesitantly, I agreed.

"Alright," Gabriel said. "Let's go."

As he was about to snap his fingers a thought entered my mind. "Wait," I said.

"What?"

"How did you know I was assigned to surveillance?"

He smiled. "You think because I left I haven't been checking up on my little bro?"

"Yes," I said bitterly. "That's pretty much exactly what I thought."

As I turned to him, I was surprised to see an expression of dismal thoughtfulness cross his face. It was jarring. He opened his mouth and I hoped to my father he wasn't about to apologize. After all of this time, he didn't get to be sorry just yet. I didn't want his apology.

But his help, I had to admit, I probably needed.

"Let's go," I said, cutting him off. He nodded, put a hand on my shoulder, and snapped his fingers, and as the world stopped spinning we were shrouded in darkness.


End file.
